


Protecting and Wards

by swiftishere



Series: MSA One-Shots [16]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Cursed!Arthur (Mystery Skulls Animated), Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Reconciliation, arthur's imperiled for approx. 5 seconds and lewis panics, fluff and a small touch of angst, mystery and vivi only appear briefly, when ghost hunting goes sideways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 08:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26848603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftishere/pseuds/swiftishere
Summary: It's been some time after they were all reunited, and the small team of ghost-hunters have finally started to pick up cases again.It's not until Arthur's endangered on one of those cases, though, that Lewis suddenly andtrulyremembers just how he used to feel about this job. And about his friend. And... maybe he panics, a little, seeing him hurt.
Relationships: Arthur & Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur/Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Series: MSA One-Shots [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1440190
Comments: 4
Kudos: 228





	Protecting and Wards

Furniture swirls around the room as the glowing rune-etched rock rises in the air, a maelstrom of magic wind whipping up in a large sphere around it. Vivi scrambles and dives out of the way, ducking a piece of wood tearing off the floor, but Arthur isn't quite so lucky. The same piece of floorboard that Vivi dodged hits him square in the chest, sending him flying, drifting far further than he should thanks to the gravity of the magic field. Lewis can't see very well from this perspective, but it looks to him like all the aimlessly-flying furniture has suddenly started to move with a lot more purpose. 

He's moving before he realizes what his plan is. The magic field tugs at his anchor as he flies, trying to lift and throw him in the same way as everything else, but his own power easily stops it. He hardly pays attention to that. His attention is singly focused on Arthur, who was now desperately grabbing at some of the smaller debris flying by in hopes it could pull him out of the way of the threatening storm. A second piece, this time what looks to be a desk drawer, hits him in the shoulder and then whirls away again. In the distance, something much larger looms, sweeping closer and closer _much_ too quickly for comfort. 

Lewis snatches him out of the air and keeps flying to the other side of the bubble, not sure if he imagines the gust of wind that indicates something large sweeping by his back. 

“Lewis, I’m okay-” Arthur says, but Lewis doesn’t hear it. _There’s danger, it’s attacking him, he’ll get hurt,_ is the only thing his mind screams, and he holds him with a terrified urgency as he flees to a secluded place safely away from the violence. He blindly rushes along a wall until they reach a corner and he can’t continue, and there he kneels down, Arthur safely cocooned between weathered wood and the spectral body. 

“Y-you can put me down now, Lew. I-I’m not hurt or- or anyth-thing,” Arthur says, and it’s only then that Lewis registers that he’s panicking. 

He slowly relaxes his grip on Arthur, leaning back until they’re both more or less sitting, Arthur still cross-legged in Lewis’s lap. He’s smiling as soon as he sees his face, a relaxed, affectionate grin. Lewis can’t bring himself to return it. 

There's a moment of silence, as Lewis's heart slows and stops beating so erratically. 

“S-s-so...” Arthur raises an eyebrow and tilts his head slightly. “Wha- what was th-that about?” 

“I’m sorry,” he says after a moment. “I- that thing hit you, and you got picked up and I just... I- I couldn’t think. I just...” he puts a hand on Arthur’s cheek, tracing his cheekbone with his thumb, as he tries to put words to his feelings. 

“J-just what?” 

“I... I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want _anything_ to hurt you. I was... scared. That _anything_ would happen to you.” 

He laughs at that. “I’m tougher th-than that, you know that.” But he still leans into Lewis’s hand, eyes closing. 

They sit in silence for a while, watching each other. Not warily like they would have been... a mere few weeks ago, really; they’re relaxed, content to simply stare for a few moments. If Arthur can see Lewis turning something over in his mind, he doesn’t comment on it. 

“I think... I forgot what it was like,” he begins slowly, eventually, “caring about you. Now that I... do, again, it’s almost overwhelming. I think I’ll get used to it again, with time, but now... I just want to use every power I have to help you.” 

He laughs again, but it’s a noise of surprise. He doesn’t say anything else, and Lewis has a feeling he’s not exactly sure how to respond. 

“You had Vivi. Wh-while...” _While you wanted me dead_ , he doesn’t say. “You still cared about her.” 

“Vivi’s different.” 

“How come?” 

He thinks about it for a moment. “She’s... lucky.” 

The smile finally drops off his face – not upset, but recognizing what he means. And then he leans in and wraps his arms around Lewis, hands resting on his shoulders. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too.” This time when he holds him, it isn’t nearly as desperate. 

“But I can handle myself. M-most of the time. You don’t... sh- _shouldn’t_ need to go charging in after me.” 

“I know. I... I won’t do it again.” He rests his chin in the crook of his neck. “I’m still learning how to relax, I think.” 

A moment more of silence, and then, “not that I m-mind being rescued every now an’- now and again. But I’d appreciate a little w-warning first, maybe.” 

“Mm. Next time a magic ward telekinetically picks you up and throws a piano at you, I’ll be sure to shout some funny quip before I snatch you out of the air and run off.” 

A laugh, and the grip around his shoulders tightens. “M-much obliged.” 

When Vivi and Mystery eventually track the two of them down, they’re still in that same position, leaning against each other and arms loosely interlaced. The jokingly-annoyed “ _We put the spell to bed, no thanks to you two deserters_ ” dies on Vivi’s lips when she sees them. 

Once she’s paced around them and ascertained that Arthur’s not hurt, she pulls out her phone to snap a picture instead. 


End file.
